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Saturday, August 27
Are you a new or startup shelter? You don't have to be a ferret shelter! Any small shelter can learn and network. Held in Hartford, Connecticut, this day-long conference is focused on shelter operations.
Workshops include:
Nonprofit Basics - Fundraising - Adoption Best Practices - How to Survive being a Home-Based Shelter.
We have attendees coming from Florida, Chicago and as far away as Oregon. Locally, a specialty cat rescue and a parrot shelter are attending. Millie Sanders of Texas Ferret Lovers will be one of our workshop panelists. We’d love to have a couple more experienced panelists willing to discuss Adoption Best Practices and Surviving Being a Home-Based Shelter. Do you have great tips about how to screen adopters? Managing adopters, surrenders and volunteers in your house? Share your experiences!
Registration is continuing, however if you plan to participate remotely, we need you signed up at least two weeks in advance so we can plan the software test.
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Ferret Pain
How can you tell if your ferret is in pain? Here’s a list of signs. It’s not absolute, but was reviewed by 3 veterinarians for accuracy.
- Lack of appetite (many causes, but also generalized pain)
- Lack of normal activity (ditto)
- High or low body temperature (ditto)
- Dragging hind legs (could be low blood sugar, but also general weakness)
- Rapid short breaths or difficult breathing
- Biting (ferret that doesn't normally), especially if touched in a particular area
- Flinching from touch
- Arched back
- Squinting eyes
- “Grinding” teeth (often nausea)
- Tensed muscles
- Crying, whimpering, screaming
- Head tilted to one side (possible stroke)
- Limping or unwilling to rest on one foot (one foot or leg specifically injured)
- Straining to urinate/defecate (blockages are very painful)
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Pawboost.com is a terrific website that can help reunite lost pets with their owners. When a lost pet is listed, an alert goes out to veterinarians, shelters and volunteers in the area. The best part is – whether you’ve lost or found an animal – it can be totally free to use.
Go to the site, list the pet and a photograph, the date and area, and you can print out a free poster that can be placed around the neighborhood. Then PawBoost will send an alert – they have nearly 35,000 contacts nationwide – and with luck, the pet will find its way home. (Hint: ferrets can look a lot like each other, so if you don’t have a good recent photo, search online for a similar-looking, clear photo to copy.)
The alert goes out immediately, which is vital for finding little ferrets. They do have additional services, which you can purchase for a fee. Prices range from $29.99 to $99.99 and the notice will be pushed out to 500 to 15,000 local Facebook users via their newsfeed.
We can attest to PawBoost’s value! We adopted Lola to an older gentleman in Manchester several months ago. Used to an older male, he was unaware a wily little girl would be over a baby gate in a flash. A nice early May day, a patio, an easily-breached barrier, and Lola was gone.
He just assumed she was gone forever, as he lives next to a busy shopping center. When he contacted me, I immediately posted her to our Facebook page and to PawBoost, who regularly sends me (as a shelter) missing pet alerts.
Thanks to the PawBoost, someone who knew a white ferret had been turned into a nearby vet contacted us and scared owner was reunited with adventurous ferret. Happy ending!
So cut this out and keep it someplace in case YOUR wiggly weasel goes Missing in Action. Better yet, check with your vet and town animal control to make sure they are listed to get PawBoost alerts. Best? Sign up yourself as a volunteer spotter! You could be the contact that helps a lost pet get home.
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